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Authors: Evelyn Richardson
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frequented Brooks' or Tattersall's or Gentleman Jackson's in an effort to enliven his existence and balance out his days 68
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
with a little companionship, time hung heavy on his hands. In a word, and for the first time in his life, the Marquess of Kidderham was bored, utterly, thoroughly, and completely bored, with no hope of relief in sight, except for next Tuesday.
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69
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
Chapter 7
Harriet, on the other hand, was finding herself to be far more entertained than she had hoped to be in London. By day she pored over all the educational texts she could lay her hands on, only allowing her sister to drag her for an occasional drive in the park. In the evenings she dutifully made her appearance at the various functions that Lady Elizabeth and Lord Rokeby were attending. Once there, she devoted much of her time and energy to conversations with various highborn ladies about their servants and the possibility that they might want a likely looking young person to act as an upstairs maid or an abigail for one of their daughters. One thing she was discovering, however, was the almost universal prejudice against pretty girls, no matter how bright or eager they might be.
"They are forever after the gentlemen in the house," one hatchet-faced woman, happening to overhear her conversation, complained shaking her head so vigorously that her diamond earrings danced. "You have no notion of the maids I have had to dismiss because they would throw themselves in my husband's path." She pursed her thin lips in disgust, an expression that only made her face appear even more like a hedgehog's.
It was with great difficulty that Harriet refrained from making a tart retort, for the woman's husband was well known as a lecher even among the gently bred ladies of the ton who had been forced to endure his lascivious looks and 70
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
conversations full of improper innuendo. From the little she had learned at Mrs. Lovington's, Harriet knew that things were more likely to be quite the other way around. A girl who depended on a life in service for her livelihood was far from inclined to risk soliciting masculine attention no matter how attracted she might be to the males in the household, for to be caught in a compromising situation almost certainly meant dismissal and the elimination of all prospects of similar employment elsewhere.
It took only a few conversations for Harriet to realize that the hope of placing Mrs. Lovington's ladies in genteel households was impractical. She regretfully discarded it in favor of seeking out possible positions as assistants in the various establishments in Bond Street. This plan won a great deal of favor from Rose who very correctly pointed out that in order to accomplish anything in this direction her mistress needed some influence with the proprietresses of these establishments. "And the way to gain influence is to patronize these shops, my lady, which is something your wardrobe could use a great deal of," the maid pronounced firmly as she gazed critically at an outmoded walking dress she had pulled out for inspection.
Harriet wrinkled her nose. "I expect you are in the right of it, but I do find it so boring, what with the endless fittings and poking and prodding and everyone aghast if you are wearing a gown of the poplin that was popular last Season instead of the striped one which is the favorite during this one, or if one continues to wear a pelisse when mantles have become all the rage. I ask you, if something is comfortable and 71
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
serviceable and shows no signs of wear why should a person not don it more than one Season in succession?"
"Oh no, my lady. That won't do at all, especially not here in London." Rose was horrified at such a heretical speech. "It would never do for Lady Elizabeth's sister to be considered démodé. Why what ever
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
with a little companionship, time hung heavy on his hands. In a word, and for the first time in his life, the Marquess of Kidderham was bored, utterly, thoroughly, and completely bored, with no hope of relief in sight, except for next Tuesday.
[Back to Table of Contents]
69
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
Chapter 7
Harriet, on the other hand, was finding herself to be far more entertained than she had hoped to be in London. By day she pored over all the educational texts she could lay her hands on, only allowing her sister to drag her for an occasional drive in the park. In the evenings she dutifully made her appearance at the various functions that Lady Elizabeth and Lord Rokeby were attending. Once there, she devoted much of her time and energy to conversations with various highborn ladies about their servants and the possibility that they might want a likely looking young person to act as an upstairs maid or an abigail for one of their daughters. One thing she was discovering, however, was the almost universal prejudice against pretty girls, no matter how bright or eager they might be.
"They are forever after the gentlemen in the house," one hatchet-faced woman, happening to overhear her conversation, complained shaking her head so vigorously that her diamond earrings danced. "You have no notion of the maids I have had to dismiss because they would throw themselves in my husband's path." She pursed her thin lips in disgust, an expression that only made her face appear even more like a hedgehog's.
It was with great difficulty that Harriet refrained from making a tart retort, for the woman's husband was well known as a lecher even among the gently bred ladies of the ton who had been forced to endure his lascivious looks and 70
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
conversations full of improper innuendo. From the little she had learned at Mrs. Lovington's, Harriet knew that things were more likely to be quite the other way around. A girl who depended on a life in service for her livelihood was far from inclined to risk soliciting masculine attention no matter how attracted she might be to the males in the household, for to be caught in a compromising situation almost certainly meant dismissal and the elimination of all prospects of similar employment elsewhere.
It took only a few conversations for Harriet to realize that the hope of placing Mrs. Lovington's ladies in genteel households was impractical. She regretfully discarded it in favor of seeking out possible positions as assistants in the various establishments in Bond Street. This plan won a great deal of favor from Rose who very correctly pointed out that in order to accomplish anything in this direction her mistress needed some influence with the proprietresses of these establishments. "And the way to gain influence is to patronize these shops, my lady, which is something your wardrobe could use a great deal of," the maid pronounced firmly as she gazed critically at an outmoded walking dress she had pulled out for inspection.
Harriet wrinkled her nose. "I expect you are in the right of it, but I do find it so boring, what with the endless fittings and poking and prodding and everyone aghast if you are wearing a gown of the poplin that was popular last Season instead of the striped one which is the favorite during this one, or if one continues to wear a pelisse when mantles have become all the rage. I ask you, if something is comfortable and 71
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
serviceable and shows no signs of wear why should a person not don it more than one Season in succession?"
"Oh no, my lady. That won't do at all, especially not here in London." Rose was horrified at such a heretical speech. "It would never do for Lady Elizabeth's sister to be considered démodé. Why what ever
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